Abhyanga massage at Ayurveda Pura London

12 Oct Abhyanga massage at Ayurveda Pura London

Ayurveda, the ancient holistic medical system from India, has been practised for more than 5000 years. Created during a time of great enlightenment, it is often termed the ‘mother of medicine’ because Ayurvedic principles have influenced Chinese, Greek, Arabic and other traditional medical systems.

I was recently invited to visit London’s leading Ayurvedic health spa and beauty centre, Ayurveda Pura, which is located in the Greenwich Millennium Village close to the O2, and experience a massage first-hand. Here’s a picture of the treatment room, below:

What’s interesting about Ayurveda treatments is that, unlike most other spa treatments, you spend a fair amount of time beforehand discussing and answering questions such as whether you prefer hot or cold weather, how deeply you sleep etc.

Everyone has within them all three bio-physical forces, or Doshas – Vata, Pitta and Kapha. It is the dominance of any one, two or all three that makes up a person’s individual constitution. It was determined that I was mainly Pitta with a little Kapha, with an imbalance of Vata and Pitta.

The aim is to rebalance the constitution with herbal remedies, massages, nutrition, and even yoga, in order to maintain good health.

My therapist used sesame oil infused with ingredients that would be beneficial to me, and the 45 minutes that followed were intensely relaxing, without rendering me useless afterwards. For the rest of the day I felt calm, focused and positive, and my normally knotty shoulders (where I hold most of my tension) were a lot looser.

There are many other Ayurvedic treatments available for the face and body; for more information on Ayurveda Pura, visit the website: www.ayurvedapura.com.